Sixteen
by hotforteacher
Summary: One night Gillian finds Emily on her door step, broken hearted from her boyfriend. Gillian decides to gives her some advice. Emily/ Gillian friendship! One-shot! Some Callian, though most of it is friendship.


**Hello! So this just came to me when I was listening to the song 'Fifteen' by Taylor Swift. I always thought that when push comes to shove, Emily would come to Gillian if something was wrong. Has very little references to 'Delinquent'. There is a little bit of Callian, but mostly friendship. Oh and since we don't know much about Gillian's past, I decided to make some of it up. I don't own anything. Enjoy!**

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Gillian was cleaning her kitchen. She looked at the clock as it showed 10:37. She shook her head in disbelief. She threw her sponge in the sink and decided to do the dishes tomorrow night. Just as she was about to turn off the lights, she heard a knock at the door. Gillian jumped a little and cautiously walked to the door. She looked through the peep hole and was surprised to find Emily on the other side. Waiting for a couple seconds and contemplating whether or not to call Cal, she unlocked the door and opened it.

Emily was in a right state. Her mascara was lined down her face like she had been crying. She was biting her thumb nail as if she was scared or nervous to even be there. When the door opened, Emily could feel the cool air bathing her from the summer heat. She looked at Gillian and tears sprang to her eyes. "Gillian, I am sorry to bother you, but I had nowhere else to go." She looked down, hiding her head. She was used to doing it from her father reading her face.

Gillian just stood there, surprised. She shook her head and quietly said, "Emily, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Gillian was pleading to Emily in her mind that she was okay. All the while, she ushered Emily into her house. She made sure that when she closed the door, she locked it. She then steered her to the living room, where there was a comfortable place where they could talk.

Emily sat down, looking like a fish out of water. She wiped the tear coming down her cheek and said, "No I am not hurt," Gillian sighed with relief, "on the outside. On the inside, I'm dying." Fresh tears started making their way down her face.

She tried to wipe them away, but Gillian stopped her. "Don't fight the tears. Let them go. It will make you feel better, I promise." Emily did as she was told and let the tears fall. Gillian grabbed a tissue box and placed it next to the young girl. She then placed a comforting arm around her. Emily took the comfort and cried even more on Gillian's shoulder. Gillian rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back. When the tears started to subside, Gillian asked, "Do you want some water?"

Emily silently nodded and Gillian went into the kitchen to get the glass of water for both of them. When she walked back into the living room, Emily was wiping the tears away. She looked up when Gillian gave her the glass and meekly said, "Thank you." Both women drank their water in silence. After a couple of minutes, Emily put down her glass and said, "Thank you, Gillian. The crying did make me feel better. I suppose you want me to tell you why I am here."

Gillian looked at the young lady. She looked scared and hopeful at the same time. Gillian shook her head, "Emily, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. I can see that you are hurting and I kind of figured out why." Emily looked confused. Gillian smiled as her own eyes glazed over with salty water. "You see, I used to be 16 too. I know exactly what you are going through without you telling me. It took me a very long time to figure out that crying makes things feel a little bit better."

They were silent again for a couple of minutes. Then Emily bravely spoke up. "I am, well was, dating this guy. I thought he was a good guy. Even dad liked him." Emily grinned and Gillian returned it. Cal liking one of Emily's boyfriends was very rare; very, very rare. Emily continued, "I thought that he was going to be the one for me. I even thought about… you know… umm… doing it with him." Her cheek grew red. "Then tonight, I went out with my friends and I saw him making out with another girl. We got in this huge fight and I knew if I went home, dad would have figured it out. Then you would have to bail him out of prison for murder."

Gillian absentmindedly nodded her head and then asked, "Would you like to help me with the dishes?"

Emily was caught off guard a little but agreed. Both women got up and walked into the kitchen. Emily stopped at the opening and asked quietly, "So this is where those kids hurt you? Aren't you scared of this place all by yourself?"

Gillian turned around and said, "You know, I was at first, but an hour later I got hungry. And well, I love food, so I had to come in here and eat. I was a little jumpy, still am, but I learn to live with it. I can't starve myself, seriously Emily, I love food." She smiled as Emily laughed. Gillian looked at the clock and saw that it was 11:07. She knew that Emily's curfew was 11 o'clock, so she asked, "Emily, does your dad know that you are here?"

She looked a little frightened. "Well I was afraid that if I called him, he would tell that I was upset. Then he would have figured it out. Gillian, can you call him and tell him, please? I'll start the dishes." Before hearing Gillian's answer, Emily got right to work at the sink.

Gillian sighed and reached for her telephone. What these Lightman's had over her was a mystery. She walked into the living room as Cal's phone rang. By the third ring, Cal picked up. "Hey Foster, what's going on?"

Gillian started to pace. "Hey Cal, I just wanted to let you know that Emily is at my house. If it's alright with you, she can stay over, too." Emily peered around the corner and nodded her head vigorously.

Cal was stunned into a second of silence and then asked, "Is she okay? Did she get hurt? No, Foster, I am coming over right now and taking her home."

Gillian shook her head, even though Cal could not see it. "Cal, don't come over, okay. She came here to talk to another woman, not to be drilled. I promise, in her own due time, she will come to you and tell you what happened."

"Nope, no, mmm-mmm; I am coming over right now. She is my daughter and she needs me." Cal started to put his shoes on.

Gillian had to resort to this. "CAL! STOP! Right now Emily doesn't need you breathing down her neck trying to discover the truth. She needs to talk not defend herself against your stare downs. I promise you that she is safe and she is not hurt." Gillian exhaled deeply. She started softly, "Cal, her body doesn't hurt but her heart is. This is something you can't fix. As a guy, who by the way used to break hearts in his younger days, you just wouldn't understand. She is sixteen, let her make the decisions. She is old enough."

Gillian could tell that Cal was seriously thinking about what she said. Finally Cal let down his guard, "Okay, she can stay with you. If something goes wrong, you need to call me immediately."

Gillian smiled and nodded silently to Emily. In return, Emily smiled and went back to doing the dishes. "Thanks Cal. I promise to call you, but she is safe here."

"Gillian," she could hear his voice cracking. He was starting to get emotional. This didn't surprise her; he often got very emotional when it comes to Emily. "Gillian, she is all I have. She is my baby." Cal stopped to get his emotions in check. He coughed and asked, "Can I speak to her for a moment? I promise not to grill her; I just want to hear her voice."

Gillian walked into the kitchen and held out the phone to Emily. She was hesitant, but then Gillian said, "He isn't going to ask you anything, he just wants to talk to you." She took her hand off the phone and said a little bit more loudly, "If he starts grilling you, then you have my permission to hang up on him."

Emily smiled and took the phone, "Hey dad. I'm here and safe at Gillian's house. Thanks for letting me stay over. I'll be coming back tomorrow morning to get ready for school."

Cal could hear the sadness in her voice, even though she was trying to be cheerful. He wanted to ask her about everything, but he kept his word. "Emily," his voice started to crack again, "I just want to let you know that I love you, very much. When you get back tomorrow, don't be afraid to come talk to me. I'm your dad; I will always be here for you."

Emily started to tear up again. Her dad has never let his guard down in front of her before. It was almost too painful to hear but she held her head high. "I love you too, dad. Just like Gillian said, I will be talking to you soon." They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Gillian purposely turned around to the sink to give Emily some space. Obviously Cal said something to her that was very personal. Emily put the phone down on the kitchen table and walked to the sink. Wordlessly, Gillian washed the dishes and Emily dried. After everything was done, that sat at the kitchen table. Emily looked up and asked, "How do you know that I will be going to my dad later on?"

Gillian smiled sadly, "Because you and your dad have that special bond. He is your rock in your life. Every girl, no matter the age, needs a daddy to go to."

"Did you ever go to your dad?"

Gillian thought about lying but decided against it. "No, I have never, and will never trust him. He lost my love a long time ago. I instead went to my best friend's dad and my uncle. Both men were very strong and knew my… situation."

"What did your dad do?" She was being curious rather that accusatory.

Whoa, this is getting deep, but there is no way back. "When I was younger, my dad used to drink, a lot. Many times he would call me names and hit me around. After a couple of years he started to go to AA meeting and he wanted to make amends with me. I never have, and I never will." Emily looked at her with pity and sadness. Gillian shook her head, "Listen, I don't want or need your pity. It happened a long time ago. No sense crying over spilt milk, right?" Gillian tried to make light of the situation. She felt bad for snapping at Emily. "Listen, I'm sorry about what I just said. It is a touchy subject for me; one that your father doesn't even know about. So if you could do me a favor a let it be our little secret."

Emily silently grabbed Gillian's hand and nodded. After a couple of seconds, Emily asked, "So did you have your mom to go to when you had boy problems?"

Gillian's lip started to quiver, "Umm… no… my mom died when I was about 7 years old. Instead I went to my aunt. The problem was that I only got to see her during the summer time. So everything that happened when I was at school, I kind of had to deal with on my own. In return, I had to learn some things the hard way. But I am thankful that I learned them, right?"

Emily looked down and squeezed Gillian's hand, "I am sorry about your mom. I am assuming that dad knows none of this." Gillian shook her head. "Well then it will just be between the two of us, I promise."

Gillian smiled, and then said, "Would you like some icecream? Another thing I learned was that icecream makes everything feel a little bit better. I don't know whether it's from the taste or the sugar high, but it works." She looked inside the freezer and got out Ben and Jerry's Phish Food icecream and two spoons. "It also helps if the icecream has chocolate in it." They grinned at each other and started to devour the icecream.

After the carton was empty, Emily got up, threw away the carton and put the spoons in the sink. She started to wash them as she spoke up. "I feel so stupid for falling for this boy. But at the time it felt like there was nothing else in the universe. Then I saw him with that other chick, which by the way she acts, she is nothing but a skank. She throws herself at other guys. I thought that he wouldn't take the bait, but he did. He broke my heart and I hate him for it." She started to get a little teary eyed but then held her chin up high. Her Lightman fury was kicking into high gear. "And what he said to me was worse. He said that he was getting frustrated with waiting for me so he had no choice but to get it from someone else. Most likely if he went all the way with her then he is going to contract some kind of disease. The skank has slept with I don't know how many boys before him. By now I wouldn't want to touch him with a ten foot pole."

Gillian dried the spoons, letting Emily vent without any interruptions. She seemed like she was taking a breather so Gillian stepped in. "Well, trust me when I say boys will be boys at that age. But you are smarter than that and I am glad you didn't go all the way with this boy. If he can't wait for you to be comfortable, then he is not worth your time or love." When the spoons were dried, Gillian took Emily into the living room and sat down. "I know, it doesn't look like it now, but there will be other boys and other skanks. They exist in the world," Gillian smiled sadly again, "and they go beyond the walls of high school. You just have to make sure that you keep your head up high and don't give in to that kind of temptation." Emily started to make a disgusted face but Gillian put her hand on Emily's to stop her. "It might not seem like it now, but you will be tempted to act like a skank or dress like one. You might think that being with this guy for one night might not be that bad. Don't shake your head, yes you will."

Emily was about to interrupt, but was quickly silenced by Gillian. "Emily, I have been through it all. In high school, I dated this boy named Eric. We were so in love that I would have married him in a split second. Then for the same reason as you, he dumped me and dated this skanky girl. I thought that if I acted a certain way or dressed a certain way that I can get back with him. It didn't work, he moved on to different girls and I was left with these boys who wanted one thing and one thing only from me." She paused for a second to regain her strength. Gillian wanted nothing more than to run away and never look back. This talk with Emily was bringing back some old memories. But she had to go on; she wasn't going to let Emily go through what she did. "After Eric left, I thought hey I have all this attention from these guys. They must like me, right?" She closed her eyes, feeling the tears starting to take over. "One night, I gave in to one of them. It was the worst night of my life. He had used me and then dropped my off at my house. There was no romance and no cuddling. I was just another number to him. I thought I could handle it, but I couldn't. Believe me when I say that I wanted nothing more than to die. Then after a couple of weeks, I skipped school and flew to my aunt and uncles house. They took me in and nursed me back to health. Without them, I think I would have been dead."

Gillian grabbed Emily's hand and squeezed it. "So you see, trying to be like these other girls or being with other boys didn't help at all. Don't fall into that trap, because you will feel like there is no way out." She added softly, "Believe me when I say, this will all pass. If you continue to hold your head up then you will find the right man for you. He will be gentle and kind." Gillian looked at Emily and smiled. She in return nodded silently.

Gillian wrapped her arm around Emily's neck and said, "You are only sixteen, you are very young no matter how many times you tell your dad that you are grown up. You don't know who you are supposed to be just yet. Let it stay that way until you are ready to learn. There will be times where you feel like you will be on cloud nine and there will be times where you will sink so low that you hit rock bottom. That is all a part of growing up. Continue to be young, at least until you are 18."

Emily hugged Gillian and simply said, "Thank you." She then had to stifle a yawn.

Gillian followed suit and said, "It is time for bed. You have school in the morning and I have to go to work with your very cranky dad. Let's go, you can sleep in the spare bedroom. I can give you some clothes to sleep in." Gillian got up and Emily wordlessly followed.

Once Emily was in her PJ's and in bed, Gillian decided to tuck her in. The young woman looked up and asked, "Will you always be here for me Gillian?"

Gillian almost lost it but held it together. "If you want, every step of the way. There is one condition; you have to make your own choices. Don't be upset when I can't give you an answer. No one can protect you from making a good choice or bad choice. It's all a part of growing up and learning for yourself. But don't ever think that you are alone. You will always have your dad and you mom and even me. Don't ever be afraid to come and ask. My door is always open."

Emily grinned, "Is this the same speech you gave to dad?"

Gillian smiled and then blushed, "It was very close. Now, good night and sleep tight. Tomorrow is a new day."

Emily smiled and closed her eyes. Before Gillian walked out of the room, Emily whispered, "I love you."

Gillian couldn't help but let a tear escape. "I love you, too."

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**Okay, it might be a little OOC but I thought it was a fitting end? How did you like? Yea? Nay? This is going to be a one-shot so please review! Thanks!**


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